Damallsvenskan Newsblog

This is starting to look a bit familiar. A top that already seems to have ran away from the rest (only new is that Linköping has been replaced by Sunnanå!), Umeå with 6 straight wins, Malmö and Djurgården undefeated. The next two rounds (the first already on Wednesday) Malmö will be playing both Umeå and Djurgården. I know it is early, but those two matches might be crucial for the outcome of the championship battle. Malmö hasn't been shy about their chances against Umeå after the last two wins - "We are a better team", says Therese Sjögran - but they have almost all their forwards on the injury list. Let's guess that this will still look familiar next week.

Djurgården - Kif Örebro 1 - 0 (0-0)
Djurgården: Bente Nordby - Sara Thunebro, Therese Brogårde, Jane Törnqvist, Dorte Dalum Jensen - Elin Ekblom, Ariane Hingst (76 Linda Forsberg), Anna Hall, Kristin Bengtsson (60 Annemarie Norlin) - Emma Lundh, Victoria Svensson
Örebro: Kristin Hammarström - Ingrid Ericson, Stina Segerström (83 Marina Pettersson), Sandra Linder, Caroline Näfver - Malin Nilsson, Lena Andersson, Marie Hammarström, Elin Magnusson - Pavlina Scasna, Emelia Erixon (64 Hodan Siid-Ahmed)
Goals: 1-0 Victoria Svensson (56)
Attendance: 437
Rikard Holmlund return to Damallsvenskan was fairly successful in the first half, when his Örebro kept Djurgården at arms length, not allowing their first shot on goal until the 32nd minute, when Ariane Hingst's shot touched the woodwork. Djurgården started to get more out of their possession in the second half and Victoria Svensson (who turned 30 the day before) could finally score, heading in a cross from Elin Ekblom. All in all a decent Damallsvenskan match, that Djurgården maybe should have managed to get a bigger win. Rikard Holmlund commented his first match with Örebro "I hate to lose, but they were stronger today". National team coach Thomas Dennerby was present, watching a fairly large group of presumptive World Cup players, Swedish and foreign.
Dagens Nyheter: "Vickan" fixade festen själv
Nerikes Allehanda: Victoria sänkte KIF Örebro
Expressen: Holmlund inledde med förlust
Djurgården: report


Sunnanå SK - Linköpings FC 1 - 1 (1-1)
Sunnanå: Åsa Berglund, målvakt - Josefin Johansson, Sandra Berggren, Hanna Marklund, Rebecca Smith, Anna Bodén, Kristina Wiklund (82 Emma Jonsson), Maria Nordbrandt (89 Maja Johansson), Lina Johansson, Sanna Frostevall, Alexandra Nilsson
Linköping: Jenny Olsson - Frida Östberg, Sara Larsson, Charlotte Rohlin, Faith Ikidi - Ann Westermark (67 Maja Krantz, 74 Marie-Louise Skålberg), Maureen Mmadu, Caroline Seger, Maria Karlsson (67 Maria Aronsson) - Josefine Öqvist, Tiffeny Milbrett
Goals: 1-0 Anna Bodén (1), 1-1 Maureen Mmadu (15)
Attendance: 354
4 points in six matches for pre-season championship contender Linköping. "They can definitely forget the gold now", commented TV4's Pontus Kåmark after the draw at Sunnanå. Sunnanå got the opening they could only wish for, when Anna Bodén scored from 25 meters less than a minute after kick-off. They continued to create scoring opportunities as Bodén and Frostevall in midfield fought down Linköping's Seger and Mmadu. Linköping still managed to equalize, Mmadu tapping in the ball from a free-kick. Then the cold, the rain and the wind began to drain the will and power from both teams and they both seemed satisfied to preserve their point.
Corren: Oavgjort ? en ny besvikelse för LFC
Norra Västerbotten: Poäng med mersmak för Sunnanå
Expressen: "Linköping kan glömma guldet nu"


Umeå IK - Hammarby 5 - 2 (1-2)
Umeå: Carola Söberg - Anna Paulsson, Johanna Frisk, Karolina Westberg, Lisa Dahlqvist - Lise Klaveness, Elaine, Hanna Ljungberg - Ramona Bachmann (June Pedersen), Madelaine Edlund,Marta
Hammarby: Katarina Wicksell - Malin Nykvist (88 Therese Dahlberg), Elin Sölveskog, Josefin Christensen, Annica Svensson - Jennie Jonsson - Marijke Callebaut (41 Andrea Comaneci), Therese Sandström, Josefin Wejner (59 Anna Lindblom) - Sara Johansson, Jessica Landström
Goals: 0-1 Marijke Callebaut (5), 0-2 Own goal (9), 1-2 Hanna Ljungberg (19), 2-2 Marta (48), 2-3 Madelaine Edlund (60), 4-2 June Pedersen (68), 5-2 June Pedersen (90)
Attendance: 471
Umeå, where in particular the defense seemed unprepared for a real match, was caught napping by Hammarby. Two Hammarby goals in less than ten minutes and very close to a third, Sara Johansson and Belgian midfielder Marijke Callebaut cooperating on all three occasions. But Hammarby lost Callebaut to a hip injury and Umeå began, slowly, to gear up. Marta equalized with one of her trademark direct corner-kicks and after that the game was over for Hammarby. They continued to try to move forward, but had increasingly big problems fending off Umeå's attacks. In spite of being down two goals, there was never any real worry on Umeå's bench. "We made too many mistakes in the beginning of the match, but we knew they would get tired in the second half", said assistant coach Steve Galloway. Umeå's young Norwegian talent June Pedersen replaced Ramona Bachman and scored her first two Danmallsvenskan goals.
Expressen: Hammarby chockade UIK
Västerbottenskuriren: 5-2 till UIK trots chockstart
Västerbottens Folkblad: UIK vaknade ? och vände
SVT: video clip
TV4: match clip


AIK - Kopparbergs/Göteborg 0 - 2 (0-1)
AIK: Sofia Lundgren - Jessica Juhlin, Linda Lekander, Frida Höglund, Lina Hedqvist (63 Freja Egerbrant), Madelene Göras, Nazanin Vaseghpanah, Sofia Simonsson, Ingrid Bohlin, Sanna Valkonen, Laura Kalmari (11 Anna Lundin, 78 Danielle Wallander)
Göteborg: Maria Edman - Maria Karlsson, Maria Nilsson, Jenny Engwall, Marlene Sjöberg - Camilla Schelin (90 Catrin Johansson), Salina Olsson (83 Sofia Karlsson), Lisa Ek, Sofie Andersson (83 Elin Dahl Örn) - Lotta Schelin, Sara Lindén,
Goals: 0-1 Maria Karlsson (28), 0-2 Sara Lindén (73)
Attendance: 518
AIK was predicted to reach at least a mid-table position after their impressive pre-season signings, but after five matches they were at the bottom of the table with only two points and one goal. The match against Göteborg didn't change this. Defensively their game worked ok, but they completely lack the power and the dedication in front of goal that Göteborg showed when they forced in the first goal in a penalty zone shuffle. And just to make things worse, their only goalscorer so far, Finnish star Laura Kalmari, had to leave the field with a thigh muscle rupture.
Dagens Nyheter: AIK:s oflyt fortsätter
Göteborgsposten: Viktiga poäng för Göteborg
TV4: match clip
SVT: match clip


Falköpings KIK - LDB FC Malmö 0 - 4 (0-0)
Falköping: Malin Andersson - Nettan Hofling, Charlotte Abrahamsson (74 Josefine Alfsson), Karin Neuman, Emma Eriksson, Sandra Krantz, Madeleine Tegström, Cecilia Abrahamsson (71 Cynthia Uwak), Camilla Sanderheim, Sofia Fröjdstedt, Linnea Liljegärd
Malmö: Caroline Jönsson - Therese Jönsson, Emma Wilhelmsson, Malin Levenstad, Dora Stefansdottir - Frida Nordin, Nilla Fischer, Therese Sjögran, Lina Nilsson (80 Nera Smajic) - Emma Stålhammar, Manon Melis (57 Nanna Johansen),
Goals: 0-1 Emma Wilhelmsson (49), 0-2 Therese Sjögran (65), 0-3 Therese Sjögran (70), 0-4 Nanna Johansen (74)
Attendance: 1,070
Falköping has successfully played Örebro and Linköping at home and for quite some time it seemed like they would manage to repeat this with Malmö. A very determined defensive with 10 players on their own half at all times controlled the first half, slowing down Malmö and making them mostly play sideways in the midfield. But apparently the guests solved the problem during the half-time, because in the second half Malmö managed to tear through Falköping's defense. Nigerian star Cynthia Uwak made her long awaited Damallsvenskan debut, subbing in with 20 minutes left as a winger, but couldn't do much to change her team's fate. Malmö got their fourth forward on the injury list (joining Helgadottir, Lundin and Östman) when Manon Melis had to leave with a sprained foot. Uwak commented after the match that she was not impressed by Malmö's national team players "I can already see that it won't be hard to score on Caroline Jönsson". Maybe some kind of retaliation for Hanna Ljungberg's likewise unimpressed comments about Uwak's fellow Nigerians Mmadu and Ikidi after Umeå's win over Linköping?
Sydsvenskan: Storseger trots skadeproblem
Expressen: Attacken mot Caroline Jönsson


Qbik - Bälinge 2 - 2 (1-0)
Qbik: Maria Yatrakis - Anna Nilsson (75 Elin Ragnvaldsson), Lisa Mellberg, Jenny Hallstenson, Rebecca Johnson (87 Sanna Backman), Therése Lückner, Amelie Rybäck (69 Julia Spetsmark), Charlotte Nygren, Therése Björk, Elin Sandgren, Jennifer Meier
Bälinge: Veronika Svensson - Linda Sembrant, Lina Andersson, Karolina Mats, Annette Kent (75 Emma Lindkvist), Linda Blom, Heidi Matinlassi, Petra Vaelma, Katri Nokso-Koivisto, Sanna Talonen, Anne Mäkinen
Goals: 1-0 Therese Lückner (25), 1-1 Anette Kent (55), 1-2 Own goal (60), 2-2 Anne Mäkinen (62)
Attendance: 426
"Probably the worst first half the team has ever played", was Bälinge's coach's verdict and Qbik's Janne Jansson said that three of the four goals were goals that shouldn't occur in a premier division match. In other words, two teams that both had big problems getting their play to work and instead making lots of individual mistakes. They both seemed more scared of losing than eager to win.
Upsala Nya Tidning: Oavgjort för Bälinge mot Qbik
Värmlands Folkblad: Missarnas match på Tingvalla
Nya Wermlandstidningen: Qbik ? Bälinge 2-2